Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday Menu Planning

I truly do find menu planning so grounding. It is the one thing in my week I cannot go without. Floors not swept? Meh. Having to rifle through 3 baskets of washing to find one crumpled but clean outfit? Meh. Dinners and shopping not organised and planned, taking into account our busy days, home days, suiting everyone's tastes? Chaos ensues!!!!

After we've been away for a weekend at my parents, menu planning the coming week is the first thing I do on a Sunday night once the car is unpacked. It gets my mind back into home-mode, gets me thinking about what we have on through the week, what we've got in the pantry, fridge and freezer to use up, how I can extend the boys' tastes a bit without overdoing it. I love sitting with a blank page, days of the week ruled up and ready to be filled in. I love dividing our shopping up into our different stops through the week, markets for fresh fruit and veg, the butcher, the grocery, the bulk wholefoods shop in the next town if we're heading that way (which we are this week!!!!), the dairy.

Anyway, I know not everyone is a menu planner, I *ahem* even know some people that roll their eyes when I get my pen and ask the question "what will we have for dinners this week guys?" but, for little old me, it is truly my most favourite household chore.

If it can in fact be called a chore!

This week we're having:

Monday
Tuna Mornay Pasta Bake


Tuesday
Boys - boiled dippy eggs and wholemeal toast soldiers
Adults - Laksa

Wednesday
Lamb, Barley and Cinnamon Casserole from Maggie Beer's Maggie's Harvest p659 Random Recipe

Thursday
Homemade pizzas

Friday
Pork sausages with mashed potato and steamed veg

Saturday
Ratatouille with quinoa

4 comments:

  1. Are you talking about me by any chance?? I am very envious of the 'laksa' night! Makes me wish I were there, just one reason anyway :)

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  2. I love to menu plan too, it really makes the week go nice and smoothly when it comes to preparing dinner with all the thinking done already. I must really sit down today and do some planning, thanks for the reminder. Enjoy your week.:)

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  3. Sounds gorgeous, girl! I have meal-planned with Saraya this week (she is sharing the cooking and we even have some desserts planned); not something I do every week but always feel better when I do! xx

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  4. Oh dear. I always fail at meal planning. I do enjoy it, and it would make life easier I don't doubt it, but I still struggle to get my head around what to cook for my boys (one EXTREMELY fussy, limited one) that works for us too. (All the more reason to plan probably!). Also I have to wait until the fruit and veg box rolls up and then go... hmm, how to use these organic white radishes?!!

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